Includes bibliographical references (p. [637]-640)

Includes indexes

Where the road forks and the river bends : travelers' tales. The Arkansas traveler -- Davy Crockett and the fiddler in the river -- How Uncle Steve interpreted Spanish -- How Johnny Appleseed brought apple blossoms to the West -- Nail soup -- Ohio roads -- A pallet on the floor -- The six thousand year principle -- Ain't lost -- Lodging in Kansas -- Michigan bedbugs -- A Yankee finishes his meal -- A frequent mover -- The Hoosier and the salt pile -- A white elephant -- Hands up! -- An experienced river pilot -- Mississippi sounding calls -- Steamboats are dangerous -- "It's all right, Captain" -- Nehemiah Fluf'kin's visit to the city -- On a slow train through Arkansaw [i.e. Arkansas] -- The ballad of Casey Jones -- Lingo of the rails -- Traveling superstitions -- The traveler's homecoming

The hills beyond : pioneer tales. Captain John Smith and Pocahontas -- Daniel Boone's tale of the three notches -- Bewildered Boone -- "That's John's Gun!" -- A mighty strange turkey -- A pioneer woman fights back -- How Muldrow found his neighbor -- A savage Santa Claus -- The trapper's hello -- The trappers' camp -- The day Jim Bridger ran off -- Old Gabe to the rescue -- Joe Meek's mule -- Watch what you say -- A long way for advice -- The death of a mountain man

The fightin' spirit. Too long between fights -- Yankee Doodle -- How Mike Fink beat Davy Crockett in a shooting match -- Mike Fink and the deacon's bull -- Tough fighters -- Bingo -- Snake Thompson, a good fiddler -- The Texas Rangers -- The fight -- The talking match -- The blacksmith duel -- The last duel in Ohio -- The good old rebel -- The Yank reunion -- Mormon Zack wastes no time -- Silver Jack -- The sissy from Hardscrabble County -- John Henry, the steel-drivin' man -- The Hatfield-McCoy feud : how it started -- Mose Humphreys : the fighting fireman -- Strap Buckner, the fightingest man -- The death of Crockett

Hunting and fishing yarns. How Jack Wood got thin -- The tale of the dog with the upside, downside legs -- Mart Moody's bird dog -- Pretty baby -- A hand-caught rabbit -- Running the fox -- A shooter with a heart -- Accommodating deer -- Why I never shoot bears -- Bee hunting in the Ozarks -- A fine bloomin' shot! -- The buck or the bullet -- Major Brown's coon story -- A coon-hunt in a fency country -- Davy Crockett meets his match -- An underwater robbery -- When we isn't we -- Hunting superstitions -- Shotgun Charlie goes fishing -- A hard-drinking snake -- The fish rider -- The saucer-back halibut -- Old Joe, the legendary catfish -- Crooked stream -- Grant's tame trout -- Fishing superstitions -- Anything a man can do, a woman does better

Love and marriage. High Horse's courting : a Sioux love story -- Buffalo gals -- Jemima, what have you done to me? -- Old Smoky -- Joe Bowers -- Frankie and Johnny -- A New England courtship -- A frontier love story -- Crockett pops the question -- How Daniel Boone found his wife -- Black-eyed Susie -- Superstitions : love and marriage -- Weddings, frontier style -- Square-dance calls -- The bride and groom of Pisgah -- The mermaid -- The queen of the bull-whackers -- Birthing, the frontier way -- Superstitions : pregnancy and infants -- A close call -- I once loved a young man -- A patient wife -- A wise husband -- "Old Whiskers" -- Why womens is sharper dan mens -- She wanted a divorce -- Sweet Betsey from Pike -- De ways of de wimmens -- Harvey and Myra

Preachers and their congregations. If only the angels knew -- What did he say? -- The fighting parson -- Predestination for the Indian -- The deacon's testimony -- The stolen wedges -- Soapy Smith preaches to the damned -- Little mercies -- A parson's supper -- Cheesebox church -- Faith and expectation -- Powers of concentration -- Catching the Lord -- Last licks -- An oilman helps out -- How they sing in the city -- Advice on sin -- The settin' up -- Dividing up the souls -- Bundle of troubles -- Toll 'em heavy -- Superstitions about faith -- The reformation of Uncle Billy

Witches, ghosts, and strange events. Granny Frone -- Old Ferro -- The hag of Plymouth -- Hoodoo -- The tale of the talking eggs -- The black cats are talking -- The sick man's ghost -- The miser's gold -- The ghostbuster -- Supernatural superstitions -- Death superstitions -- The mystery star -- The seven-year light on Bone Hill -- The death-watch tick -- Fiddler's dram -- An epitaph -- The girl with the lavender dress

Animal tales. Coyote turns into a buffalo : a Pawnee myth -- The wonderful tar-baby story -- How Mr. Rabbit was too sharp for Mr. Fox -- What the guinea hen says -- Lissenbee -- Sheer crops -- Never hold your head too high -- How Sandy got his meat -- De knee-high man -- Two-Toe Tom -- The boll weevil song -- Animal superstitions

Country life and country laughter. Trespassers beware -- A melting story -- Racing the train -- The new telephone wire -- When you don't know, guess -- The razorback hog -- A family pet -- Pig or puppy -- Quit while you're ahead -- Little brown jug -- Moonshiners -- Thanks just the same -- A little more cider -- A still tongue makes a wise head -- A long-handled shovel -- Paw won't like this -- Ask the river -- A mean grocer -- The vinegar queen's supper -- The boardinghouse -- East Texas episode -- The man from Texas -- Keep going -- Oolah! Oolah! -- Crockett gets the votes -- Change the name of Arkansas? -- Fitting epitaph -- Hog-thieves hanging together -- How do you plead? -- Shotgun Charlie's sage advice -- Listen to the people talk -- Riddles -- Children's rhymes

The wild, wild West. The West -- Another view of the West -- The shallows of the ford -- The robbers and the widow -- Jesse James meets Wild Bill -- The fateful Northfield raid -- Doc Holliday -- Wyatt Earp plays a lone hand -- Shoot-out at the O.K. Corral -- Butch Cassidy robs the payroll train -- Stackalee -- Sam Bass -- Hang me, o hang me -- Judge Parker, the hanging judge -- Roy Bean as coroner -- Law-abiding folks -- Judge Three-Legged Willie -- The death of Billy the Kid -- The death of Wild Bill -- On the dodge -- Outlaw women -- Calamity's bet -- Annie Oakley makes her name -- The disappointed tenderfoot -- The wild, wild West show -- Annie Oakley's twilight

The cowboy: funny, tough, and lonesome. Home on the range -- Too much talk -- A cowboy's comforts -- No complaints -- A rare steak -- Advice to a cowboy -- All in a day's work -- Longrope's last guard -- The Kansas line -- What the cowpoke saw -- Good-hearted cowboys -- Tact -- Bone Mizell buries a buddy -- The saga of Pecos Bill -- Jim -- An honorable genealogy -- Lost in heaven -- A cowboy finds a friend -- A poor bet -- The cowboy's lament -- The speckled yearlin' -- Cowboy's last request

The tall tales of swappers, liars, and boasters. A stubborn critter -- The mare with the false tail -- How a dog made Pete Andrews rich -- Crazy for whiskey -- The fireproof pitch -- The fish-boning machine -- The truth about liars -- Bill Greenfield, a great liar -- A cold day -- A good imitation -- John Darling, an even bigger liar -- Big mosquitoes -- Big Wind at Hurley -- Sandstorm yarns -- Ira and Tom build fences -- Weather lore -- The deep snow -- The boy and the turkeys -- Well-dressed turkeys -- Some liars of the Old West -- The hickory toothpick -- Climbing the ladder -- A long name -- A long high jump -- A bear for work -- A scared crow -- Hoop snakes -- The swollen hoe handle -- The soft-soaped mule -- Can rats read? -- The cat with the wooden paw -- The boomer's hound -- Sam Patch, jumping man -- The high divers -- Casey at the bat -- Febold Feboldson, the most inventingest man -- Gib Morgan and the whickles -- Gib's biggest rig -- How Gib invented rubber boots -- How Gib saved his tool dresser

Paul Bunyan and his world. Paul Bunyan's birth -- Babe, Paul Bunyan's blue ox -- Heavy-timbered land -- Why the Great Lakes have no whales -- The lumberman's song -- The round drive -- How Paul Bunyan cleared North Dakota -- Tony Beaver meets Paul Bunyan

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